Spring Bouquet

Yes, I know. They are dandelions. Considered by most to be intrusive, pesky weeds. But clutched tightly in the outstretched hands of an eager four-year old Girl exclaiming, "Momma I picked some flowers for you!" They are magically transformed into the most beautiful spring bouquet I've ever received. They are a lovely, sunny shade of bright yellow and truth be told, I think they are even prettier when they turn into that delicate puff of fluff.

I to the K to the E to the A

Reasons why we love IKEA:
1) the kids' supervised play area where the Girls can play games, craft a princess crown and jump in the ball pit while the Moms can shop in relative peace 2) the cafe where you can get two kids meals and an entree for yourself, all reasonably healthy, on the cheap...$9 3) the fact that Thelma & Louise can jump right into a display and toast their lemonade glasses without employees frowning upon it
4) the sinks in the bathroom that are at kid height (this was clearly Baby Sister's favorite part of the day) 5) the way that they set up entire rooms using their products which lend themselves to stimulating creative thoughts about the spaces in your own home 6) the $1.25 frozen yogurt ice cream cones and gargantuan cinnamon roles at the bistro near the exit

7) the prices, at $20, this mosquito net for the Girl's bed (which she has been wanting ever since she saw one hanging over her friend G's bed at Christmastime) was the most expensive item in my cart and my entire purchase (consisting of 14 bowls, 6 ceramic plant pots, the mosquito net, and an adorable sand toy set) totaled just $67

Cool Chick

This particular pair of sunglasses has seen much love in our house. The Girl has witnessed the crashing surf in Hawaii, seen the flat expanses of Oklahoma and blocked the summer sunshine rays in The Magical Kingdom through these dark lenses. Now they've been passed down to adorn Baby Sister's little munchkin face. Can't wait to be a part of the adventures that she'll view through them.

Holy Molars!!

In addition to these sweet little pearly whites, Baby Sister now has her top two molars, which I spotted on Thursday during a diaper change that Baby Sister was none too happy about. In mid-holler with her mouth wide open I noticed a nub of white in the upper left corner of her mouth. I stuck my finger in there for further confirmation and as soon as she bit down I got my answer. I then wriggled my finger over to the other side of her mouth and found it's matching partner. Yea teeth!!

18 months

At 18 months this once-upon-a-time "itty-bitty" is closing the gap with her peers. Today she had her well child check-up and here are her stats:

weight: 23 lbs. 8 ozs. (35th %))

head circumference: 19" (92nd %)

length: 32 5/8" (75th %)

Here is the kicker folks, since her 15-month check-up she has grown 3 1/8 inches!! She used to be in the 20th percentile for height. When the nurse went to chart Baby Sister's measurements on the growth chart she was impressed that she'd grown so tall and measured her again just to be sure that she'd gotten the right height the first time around.

Aside from all of that progress, she is growing in so many other ways and has a personality the size of Texas with a grin to match! She loves to give 'knuckles' (also known as the 'fist bump') and perplexed our pediatrician when she held her fist out to her. Dr. A looked at me questioningly and I told her that Baby Sister wanted to giver her knuckles. Dr. A thought that was pretty awesome. Baby Sister also has an affinity for wearing the Girl's dresses. Never mind the fact that Baby Sister has a gazillion of her own dresses to wear. She'd still rather wear the Girl's and to her credit, the Girl is more than willing to indulge her sister's whims. Another new fascination is the discovery of her own belly button, or "belly buh" as she says it. She loves to lift up her shirt and run her little fingers over her tummy until she finds the indentation that is her belly button upon which she squeals, "Belly buh!". Beware though, she also likes to lift the shirts of others in her belly-button searching quests. In addition to her belly button, Baby Sister can identify and locate several other body parts - eyes, ears, nose, mouth, head, hair, fingers, toes. Her vocabulary is rapidly expanding and now includes: kitty (which says "Maow!"), dog (which says "Ooof!"), whee! (when she is riding the rocking horse or is on the swings), uh-oh, more, whoa!, oh, dank-du (thank-you), eyes, hi, bye-bye (accompanied by a wave), kay (ok), yeah (in response to almost any question that you ask her). It is clear that she also understands quite a lot of what we say to her. For example, when I say, "Let's go brush your teeth." She responds with an enthusiastic, "Yeah!" and runs toward the kitchen sink. As for her motor skills, she is now adept at climbing up on the furniture and getting down by herself, has mastered the art of backing down the stairs (She lays on her belly and pushes herself down in one continuous motion which looks to me like it would hurt but that's the beauty of the ever-forgiving nature of little kids' bodies.) and is now tall enough to reach the pantry door handle. The other day I scolded the Girl for leaving the pantry door open upon finding Baby Sister scavenging around the bottom shelf. The Girl was adamant that she hadn't opened it and that it was Baby Sister. I didn't believe until a few minutes later when I caught the little culprit in the act. Now we can't keep her out of there!!

Happy Easter

Ah yes, the prerequisite Easter morning photo of the littles all gussied up in matching dresses before heading out the door to church. As you can see, our sweet lil Baby Sister was none too thrilled about an early morning photo shoot. This was the best shot I got. And about those matching dresses, I do intend to dress them the same on Easter morning for as long as I possibly can before the protesting begins. I figure I have

one more year before the Girl will refuse to wear the same thing as her Baby Sister.

After church we returned home and hid eggs immediately per the Girl's request. She was so excited to find the eggs that we had dyed along with a few plastic ones.

Despite the appearance of great weather, the sunshine was deceptive as there was a wind blowing that had an Antarctic chill to it. I heart Baby Sister's hair!! It is so fine and fluffy that a gust of wind is all it takes to make it fly away.

Egg Huntin'

Today was Baby Sister's first official participation in an Easter egg hunt. This morning we went to one of our favorite local parks for their annual egg hunt and Easter festivities. At first she was not quite sure what to do and just stood there watching the swirl of activity around her in the form of other littles her age (some racing, some teetering and others being carried by their parents) going after the pastel-hued

eggs littering the ground. No real searching required. Soon enough she caught on although the basket proved to be a hindrance being that it was more than half her height. So for that she got a little help from her Daddy. Which in turn allowed her to utilize both hands in the collection process. A very efficient strategy! After she'd reached the eight egg limit we had to cut her off, much to her dismay and escort her

out of the egg-hunting grounds.

Her discontentment vanished in a flash upon seeing the swings in the playground area and soon she was happily swinging away, holding on to the swing with one hand and clutching an egg in the other.

In the meantime, the Girl was racing around with Miss A (under the supervision of Miss A's parents of course) collecting her own eggs. She came dressed for the occasion with her bunny ears.

We had just enough time to go home and grab some lunch before we were headed off to G'ma T's house for an early Easter dinner with aunts uncles and cousins and another egg hunt - a real egg hunt this time. G'ma T's yard is expansive and surrounded by a densely wooded area. There were over a hundred eggs to be found (between 6 kids). This time around, Baby Sister needed no instruction and she was more adept at carrying

her basket. But she was met with another dilemma - how to pick up an egg when you have a cracker in one hand and your basket in the other?

That's easy. You set your basket on the ground, pick up the egg with one hand while stuffing the remains of your cracker into your mouth with the other!!

As for the Girl, she held her own against the big kids (teenagers) in the race to find eggs. There was no branch, stump, leaf or stone in the woods that she left untouched.

She zoomed from one side of the yard to the other and back again countless times in her search.

I heart this picture of the Girls with their G'ma!

Going to show Daddy their loot.

Dye-ing eggs

As is tradition, tonight we dyed eggs for Easter. This is the first year since the Girl was born that we haven't had Gramma and Papa or

aunts and uncles around to help out. But, as you can see, we didn't let that stop us. Last year we waited until the last minute, literally. We started dye-ing eggs around 9:00 the night before Easter and Baby Sister was already in bed. This year she was eager to get in on the action.

I love how she's gazing into the cup, funny thing is, I don't think there was an egg in there.

As for the Girl, she's an old pro and didn't require much assistance. She was, however, quite protective of her eggs and stingy on the number that she was willing to allow Baby Sister to dye. Lucky for the Girl, Baby Sister was quite content to let her two alotted eggs sit in their cups of colored water for a long, long time.

I love the vibrant colors of dyed Easter eggs and always have. They almost match the brilliance of the Girl's smile!!